Chapter 6: It’s hard not to love
When they returned home, the sun was nearly setting.
Liang Lai’s residence basked in the golden glow of dusk.
Outside the window, a church-crafted Eternal Daylight Lamp floated.
It illuminated the Garden of Purity as bright as day.
Duoluosa stood before the French window.
Her fingers unconsciously traced the silver cross embroidered on the curtains.
Liang Lai poked her head out from the inner room.
A few colorful feather pens were tucked into her silver hair.
“Come over and try this new dessert I got from the kitchen!”
When Duoluosa turned, Liang Lai froze.
In the slanting sunset light, the dark circles under the girl’s eyes were stark.
Like two strokes of indigo paint brushed beneath them.
“Did you not sleep well last night?”
Liang Lai set down the dessert plate.
She squatted, meeting Duoluosa’s eyes.
Her robe’s cuffs were stained with jam.
She looked utterly devoid of a Saintess’s dignity.
Duoluosa avoided Liang Lai’s gaze.
“Well, I wasn’t very sleepy, so I didn’t sleep much.”
She didn’t mention she’d stayed on guard all night, fearing an attack from Liang Lai.
Her fingers secretly pinched her palms.
Liang Lai blinked.
Her second pair of golden pupils shifted under her eyelids.
She suddenly clapped her hands, startling Duoluosa.
“I know!”
“She must be struggling to adjust to the new environment!”
She pulled a few glowing crystal fragments from her holy robe’s pocket.
“Wait, I’ll make you something nice~”
Duoluosa watched warily as Liang Lai arranged the fragments into a rabbit shape.
When Liang Lai bit her finger and dripped blood onto the crystal, Duoluosa’s pupils trembled.
“Watch closely~”
Liang Lai clasped her hands.
Her silver hair stirred without wind.
The crystal rabbit’s ears suddenly perked up.
Its eyes glowed with warm yellow light.
As it hopped into Duoluosa’s lap, it exuded the scent of sun-warmed blankets.
Duoluosa froze.
This non-aggressive creature…
It was completely different from the biting things in the underground sanctuary.
“It glows at night.”
Liang Lai proudly poked the rabbit’s head.
This was the fruit of her efforts over the past two days.
Though she wasn’t great at crystallization, she’d learned some basic crystal magic.
“Like… uh, a night light from back there?”
She didn’t mention she’d tweaked the crystal structure to emit sleep-inducing vibrations.
Late at night, Duoluosa curled up in the guest room’s velvet curtains.
She stared at the crystal rabbit on the bedside table.
It pulsed light and dark, as if breathing.
Its defenseless state made her anxious.
If Liang Lai wanted to act, now was the perfect time.
“Crack.”
A faint cracking sound made Duoluosa tense instantly.
The rabbit’s left ear split.
Its body began to swell irregularly.
When it doubled in size, Duoluosa saw its teeth had turned into sharp crystal clusters.
“Squeak—!”
With a shrill cry, the rabbit shot like a cannonball.
It smashed the vase on the bedside table.
Duoluosa rolled off the bed.
The doll hit the wall, leaving radial cracks, like a bouncy ball broken by a naughty child.
“What’s wrong?!”
Liang Lai burst into the room, wearing only a nightgown.
She held half a light honey jelly, clearly sneaking a snack.
Her eyes widened as the rabbit doll bounced wildly on the ceiling.
The crystal chandelier jingled.
“Wait, it’s not supposed to—”
“Careful!”
As Duoluosa tackled Liang Lai, the doll whizzed over their heads.
It smashed a mural frame to pieces.
Liang Lai’s silver hair was dusted with sawdust, smelling of sun-baked pine.
“My control is awful…”
Liang Lai gave a bitter smile and stood.
Her eyes suddenly lit up.
“We have to catch it!”
She grabbed the silver teapot from the table.
“You flank from the left!”
Duoluosa was still in shock, but her body reacted instinctively.
She leaped onto the four-poster bed’s curtains, using the momentum to pounce at the doll mid-air.
Her fingertips grazed the crystal surface.
The rabbit veered sharply, crashing into the wardrobe.
Boom!
The oak wardrobe exploded, as if bombarded.
Dozens of Saintess robes flew up like a flock of white doves.
Liang Lai’s scream was drowned in the cascade of fabric.
She stumbled back, stepping on her nightgown’s hem.
She fell face-first into the pile of clothes.
Duoluosa tried to pull her back, but the falling robes buried her head.
When the chaos settled, only the rustle of fabric remained.
Duoluosa poked her head out from the pile of robes.
She saw only Liang Lai’s head exposed, a pearl belt tangled in her silver hair.
“Pfft…”
Duoluosa quickly covered her mouth.
But Liang Lai started laughing first.
She laughed so hard her golden pupils curved into crescents with excitement.
A warm feeling flooded Duoluosa’s chest.
Before she realized it, she was laughing too.
“I got you!”
Liang Lai pulled her hand from the clothes pile.
In her palm lay the crystal rabbit, back to its original form.
Now missing an ear, it looked pitiful.
“My ability needs more practice…”
She scratched her face and handed the rabbit to Duoluosa.
“Anyway, it’s definitely fine now.”
“I’m giving it to you.”
“Even if it’s a bit flawed and not as pretty as before…”
Duoluosa held the broken doll.
Its steady warmth spread through her palm.
She thought of the perfect but cold treasures in the underground sanctuary.
Suddenly, this one-eared, somewhat silly rabbit felt incredibly precious.
“Why give it to me…”
Her voice was faint as a mosquito’s hum.
Liang Lai was folding a robe into a comical hat shape.
She tilted her head at the question.
“Huh? Because kids are afraid of the dark, right?”
She casually plopped the “hat” on Duoluosa’s head.
“When I was a kid… uh, I heard kids love these glowing little gadgets.”
Duoluosa looked down at the rabbit.
The broken fragment of its left ear glinted like star shards.
When she touched it, the doll hummed softly, bathing the room in warm yellow light.
“This is…”
Duoluosa’s eyes widened.
A tiny vortex of light spun at the doll’s core, mirroring the golden lines in Liang Lai’s eyes.
Liang Lai twirled her hair, embarrassed.
“With a little tweak, it senses fear and lights up automatically.”
Then she sneezed, a feather falling from her nose.
Duoluosa hugged the doll tightly.
She realized this seemingly clueless Saintess had seen through her fears long before anyone in the underground sanctuary.
An inexplicable, simmering emotion swelled in her chest.
She bit her lip to hold it back.
“Want a bedtime story?”
Liang Lai had cleared a space, patting a fluffy feather pillow.
“I have a special edition… well, you probably don’t know what that is, but never mind…”
Duoluosa inched closer.
She moved cautiously, as if afraid to disturb something.